James Hamm has taught paintings conservation in the department since 1986. He earned his M.A. degree and Certificate of Advanced Studies in Art Conservation from this program in 1978, when it was part of the Cooperstown Graduate Program, SUNY College at Oneonta. Between graduate school and the beginning of his tenure at Buffalo State, Professor Hamm and his wife Patricia Hamm (’75) operated a successful private practice near Albany, New York. Professor Hamm has an ongoing interest in authentication issues and the detection of fakes and forgeries in paintings. Working closely with colleagues in the department, he regularly examines paintings using modern imaging techniques and sophisticated methods of materials analysis, in conjunction with an educated eye, to address questions of age, authenticity and interpretation. He also applies the knowledge gained from the study of art materials and the processes of their degradation, to the improvement of materials and techniques available to modern artists and conservators. As a part of this work, he was awarded a U.S. patent for a rigid, lightweight painting support for artists. More recently, he has guided the development of the pigmented wax-resin (PWR) fill material for paintings and objects conservation, now a product marketed by Gamblin Conservation Colors. Professor Hamm was honored with the President’s Award for Excellence in Teaching in 2007. He has supervised students who have become conservation professionals at many museums in this country, or established successful private practices to serve the needs of collectors and smaller institutions. Service to the Western New York community is incredibly important to Professor Hamm. He has been instrumental to numerous conservation projects in the area, involving students and promoting awareness of the department. During the summer of 2008, Professor Hamm and three students treated nine paintings from the James Joyce collection at the University of Buffalo in preparation for an exhibition at the North American James Joyce Conference at UB in June 2009. He conserved two Margaret Evans Price murals at the Aurora Theatre in East Aurora, NY as well as conserving a twelve part Alexis Jean Fournier mural originally installed in 1905 in the main salon at the Roycroft Inn. Professor Hamm also supervised the treatment of two large Josef Albers murals located on the campus of the Rochester Institute of Technology. In addition, he regularly participates in ongoing preventive consultancies and individual paintings treatments for the regional institutions. Professor Hamm has been a reviewer for the Journal of the American Institute for Conservation, the Getty Grant Program, and the Institute for Museum Services as well as serving on the American Institute for Conservation's Certification Task Force. He is a long standing elected Fellow of the American Institute for Conservation. Professor Hamm has been a consultant to the New York State Museum on the care of the World Trade Center collections, and a conservation consultant for the University of Rochester Memorial Art Gallery, the Roycroft Revitalization Corporation, and the Martin Van Buren National Historic Site in Kinderhook, NY.

Art Conservation